Magnificent Augsburg fountain

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The Augsburger Magnificent Fountain are three fountains on Augsburger Maximilianstrasse . They form a triad that addresses the three classes of the imperial city: the gentry , merchant and craftsman class . The ensemble of the three Mannerist Renaissance fountains is known as the Magnificent Augsburger Fountain , more rarely the Augsburger Monumental Fountain. The magnificent Augsburg fountains were created in stone and bronze by Hubert Gerhard and Adriaen de Vries between 1588 and 1600 .

The three magnificent fountains

All three fountains are located on what is now Maximilianstrasse, which, however, did not exist in this form at the time the fountains were built. The Augustus Fountain is at the northern end of Maximilianstrasse on the Rathausplatz and the Merkur Fountain further south at the level of the parish church of St. Moritz . A common misconception is that the Merkurbrunnen is on Moritzplatz , but this is on the other side of the church. These two fountains are now in a pedestrian zone and only the Augsburg tram passes them. The Hercules Fountain used to stand on the largest central square in the city, the Weinmarkt . The demolition of the dance house and the seal house resulted in today's “imperial mile”. The Hercules Fountain is also a popular photo opportunity today due to its location near the Augsburg registry office.

Imagery

The Augustus Fountain is crowned by the figure of the city's founder, Emperor Augustus . The tunic and laurel wreath indicate his military victories. The theme below the statue is water: female herms spray water from their breasts as symbols of abundance and wealth; four river gods and goddesses symbolize the water, which is particularly important for Augsburg, and which supplied the city via an elaborately designed canal network .

At the Merkurbrunnen the merchant class is thematized with a figure of Mercurius , which was formative for Augsburg with dynasties such as the Fugger , Welser and Höchstetter .

The Hercules Fountain shows the prototype of all heroes, Heracles , as a muscular naked man who kills the seven-headed monster Hydra with a club of flames . It includes the handicraft, as this was primarily dependent on the taming of the many-armed wild water and the help of fire, on the superiority of human ingenuity over the hostile forces of nature, since the Augsburg handicrafts largely depended on the water power of the Channels. Three naiads and three sea ​​gods thematize the water, between them three winged putti defeat water-spouting geese .

Oddities

In 2000, the publisher Ellinor Holland ( Augsburger Allgemeine ) donated the bronze sculpture Aphrodite by Markus Lüpertz to the city of Augsburg . It was intended to add another fountain to the Triassic on the square in front of the St. Ulrich Basilica . After public protests, however, the statue was not erected in Maximilianstrasse, but in front of the newspaper's publishing house in Lechhausen .

literature

  • Ursel Berger, Björn R. Kommer (Eds.): Adriaen de Vries: 1556 - 1626; Augsburg's glamor - Europe's glory . Catalog for the exhibition of the same name by the municipal art collections Augsburg, March 11 - June 12, 2000, City of Augsburg, 2000, ISBN 3-8295-7024-4 .